Harrison Resident Glad To See Flooding Addressed

HARRISON, N.Y. — With Harrison engineer Mike Amodeo taking steps to deal with issues brought on by flooding in the area, one resident is glad to see the problem being addressed.

“Of course I would love to see it fixed,” said Harry Carboni of Post Place. While he does not live in a neighborhood that is adversely affected by the flooding, the lifelong Harrison resident has seen the damage it can cause on Oakland Street and at the Duck Pond.

When Carboni attended Harrison High School in the 1970s, he said the problem was much like it is today.

“They’re trying, but there’s not enough funds to do it,” he said. When asked what his reaction would be if the issue were fixed, Carboni said he would be happy.

“Homes, cars and everything in the area get affected.”

Amodeo will be attending a class with assistant engineer Frank Balbi to prepare to take the test to become certified floodplain managers. Their participation was approved Thursday night by the Town Board. The $100 exam, which takes place Oct. 3, will be funded by the Engineering Department’s operating budget.

“I think we’ve come a long way in a short amount of time related to what has happened in past years in the town,” said Amodeo, who has been town engineer since 2009.

The floodplain manager is “a very specific, detailed certification,” he said. The position would keep the town up-to-date on “the detailed information and analysis process of all the flooding issues.”

He added that the 3 Dam Project is in the design process and will “hopefully move on construction” after the end of the year. The Engineering Department is also in the middle of a watershed study on the town and village’s problem flood areas, plus conceptual projects to help mitigate the problem.

"It’s been a very complicated issue, and there’s a lot of pieces to the puzzles,” said Amodeo. “There’s a lot of obstacles and along the way, we’ve gotten lucky in certain instances where we found answers to things and overcome some obstacles. It’s a really in-depth puzzle.”

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